"Today, I'm leaving all my troubles behind." Today -By Joe Pringle
Today is the day you will do it. Yesterday it could have been done but it wasn't. So make today the day you let it all go. Let the pain and indecision leave you forever.
Today is the day you will unload the pain and worry you have carried all these years. You will become more then what you or others have let yourself be. There is nothing to hold you back and it starts today.
You are greater than the sum of all your worries and doubts. The only thing holding you back today is you. Let it go and get on with your life. And today is when it will happen.
I am reminded from time to time of the words that Martin Luther King, Jr. said in 1956 during a speech in Montgomery, Alabama. It is these words that I use to remind you today of the greatness you can be regardless of where you are in life. No matter what you do in life. Or even in spite of your current condition in life.
"If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, like Shakespeare wrote poetry, like Beethoven composed music; sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper, who swept his job well."
The above quotation is often mis-quoted as "...never, never give up." The quote came from a speech that Winston Churchill gave at his old school called Harrow School on October 29, 1941.
In the speech he said, "This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."
England had been suffering through the German Blitz from September 1940 to May of 1941. The German military had tried to break the will of the British people and a massive amount of destruction and terror had rained down upon England. By October of 1941, the British were certainly weary but not defeated.
Winston Churchill gave his speech in the dawning light of survival from Germany's attempt to defeat that will the British people struggled to maintain. It didn't work and his speech was an affirmation to all that regardless of how tough things are, "never give in" to the destructive forces you are up against.
There is an old adage about not looking at the ground but up and forward. One could say that if the British looked down they saw rubble and destruction. But if they looked up all they could see was the smoke and falling bombs of German war planes. Neither was very inviting.
Yet I believe they saw through the smoldering flames. They saw the blue sky piercing the blackened air. At night, they searched and found twinkling stars peering back at them. They found solace in the beauty of the universe giving them hope and strength.
If your life is being pulled down into the dirt by forces unknown. If life is blackening your sky, remember you can push through by looking for and holding onto even the smallest bits of hope. A bright star in the night sky that catches your eye, a brilliant sunrise, or the smile from a stranger.
Even when it seems all might be lost, "never give in - never give up."
"I held a moment in my hand, brilliant as a star, fragile as a flower, a tiny sliver of one hour. I dripped it carelessly, Ah! I didn't know, I held opportunity." -Hazel Lee
Well it happened to me. An opportunity came along and I missed it. Strange as it seems since I write about this stuff all of the time. You may not consider it a big deal but I do. My missed opportunity was to wish my sister a happy birthday three days ago.
Opportunity doesn't always come along as a Microsoft Outlook calendar reminder. That distinctive alert sound that is supposed to wake you from your slumber and get back to work.
Opportunity rarely comes knocking on your door like a Western Union Telegram. Even Western Union doesn't do that anymore.
Sometimes opportunity comes in the form of a passing white cloud above. You stop to take in the beauty of it against a blue sky. Another person stops to see what you are admiring, a conversation ensues and connection takes place.
Other times you step beyond doing what everyone else does at work. You take a chance taking on what others will not. A career blossoms where others thought barren ground existed.
Sometimes we miss the initial opportunity as it stood and waved a big sign. We turn the corner after seeing it down a side street we never take. That itch comes up in the back of our head; a little voice saying, "hey, wait a minute." At this point we can continue driving or turn around and go another direction.
You see it means you have to be aware and looking for opportunity. It means placing yourself in a position to cross paths with opportunity. It means being engaged in the world around you.
We may never get another television show called "Opportunity Knocks", but we can call our sister and send a belated birthday card. So Happy Birthday Pam! And don't forget to send in your vote for the Zaporozhian Cossacks, the dancers; not the people from the 'land beyond the rapids.’
